The Global Search for Education: Who You Know Might Matter More

“The real challenge facing schools is more about the resources they can dedicate to investing in students’ networks, and the processes that could allow more students out of schools and more outsiders into schools.” – Julia Freeland Fisher

When
it’s time to find employment in the real world, relationships are
critical. In fact, according to Julia Freeland Fisher, research suggests
that an estimated “fifty percent of jobs come through personal
connections.” Freeland believes education systems are so focused on what
students should learn that they “end up ignoring who students
know–their social capital.”

Julia is the Director of Education Research at the Clayton Christensen Institute. She is also the Author of Who You Know – Unlocking Innovations that Expand Student Networks.
Her book explores ways to help teachers and school administrators break
the pattern of inequality in American classrooms. She joins us in The Global Search for Education
today to discuss how schools can increase social mobility for their
students by investing in the power of real world relationships.

“Schools should take stock of the social assets at their disposal in and around their community.” – Julia Freeland Fisher

Julia, what motivated you to write your book?

For
a long time I’ve felt that education reformers and policymakers weren’t
talking openly enough about how much relationships matter to
opportunity. Most young adults discover this when they wander out into
the real world looking for jobs. And adults often confront the
importance of networks over the course of their working lives,
particularly if they are looking to make a career change.

This
came into sharper focus when I joined the Christensen Institute five
years ago and began studying the edtech sector and the innovative
schools integrating technology into their approach to instruction. Most
of the tools we were looking at were content and assessment tools.
Beyond the education sector, however, technology advances of the past
decade have made communications fairly affordable and seamless–from text
all the way up to video chat. But when I looked at the dominant trends
in the edtech market, edtech that connected students to new mentors or
experts was the exception, not the rule.

Based
on these observations I began documenting innovations that were
doubling down on relationships in students lives, both by investing in
existing connections to strengthen them, and by unlocking new
connections in students lives. This book summarizes what we found and
what we believe, based on our theories of innovation, will enable a more
networked model of school.

What surprised you most during the course of your research for this book? Be honest!

I like this question! Two things come to mind–the first theoretical and the second quite personal.

First,
I started out thinking I was writing a book about technology. But about
halfway through I realized technology was never the question at hand.
In 2018 we are awash in sophisticated tools that can connect us at the
press of a button. The real challenge facing schools is more about the
resources they can dedicate to investing in students’ networks, and the
processes that could allow more students out of schools and more
outsiders into schools. So part way through it morphed into a book about
institutional designs. Specifically we end the book considering what it
would mean for schools to innovate in ways that privilege relationships
as outcomes unto themselves. From there, we posit, they will innovate
in ways that ensure that every student has both a web of support and
also inroads into an array of professional networks.

Second,
personally I was surprised by people’s reaction when I told them I was
going to write the book with my husband, Daniel. Some close friends were
understandably wary about what that might mean for our marriage – it
survived! But the more troubling response I got from colleagues was that
if I included Daniel’s name on the book “It will look like you couldn’t
do this without your husband’s help.” Today I can say that they were
absolutely correct. As a truly joint effort, the book became a testament
to its very topic: we don’t accomplish things alone in life. Writing a
book is no different. And I so appreciate how working alongside Daniel
forced me to ask tougher questions, explore new channels, and ruthlessly
edit down our prose.

“Schools should be creative regarding
the circumstances in which technology has a competitive advantage to
expand access to new connections.” – Julia Freeland Fisher

Who are the innovators working to address the issues of social capital?

We
profile three main categories of innovators in the book: entrepreneurs
and school leaders building wraparound services models that integrate
deep, caring relationships into students lives like Boston-based City Connects; entrepreneurs building tech that can diversify students’ networks like Student Success Agency, Nepris, and Granny Cloud;
and schools that are using instructional models and curriculum designed
to delibately expand students’ networks like Big Picture Learning
schools, Summit Public Schools, and Virtual Learning Academy Charter
School (VLACS). In all of these models, stronger, more diverse
relationships are a core ingredient and deliberate outcome.

In
an effort to continue to capture examples as we discover them we also
created a free, searchable database as a companion to the book at www.whoyouknow.org.
On that site, educators and investors can search for the latest tools
we’re discovering in the space. Our hope is to eventually start to
profile school models designed to enrich student networks on that site
as well.

“Schools should monitor the quality of student networks, both in
terms of ensuring access and also ensuring that relationships are
positive and productive.” – Julia Freeland Fisher

What tips do you suggest for schools to take advantage of these movers and shakers?

Like
I said, this is a design challenge–schools weren’t designed to be
networking hubs. To move in that direction, there are few key design
principles that any school aiming to enrich student networks should keep in mind.

Firstly, start with assets.
Schools should take stock of the social assets at their disposal in and
around their community. Oftentimes parents and community members can
lend their own networks to schools, but schools are ill-designed to take
full advantage of these due to time and cost constraints.

Secondly, expand learning & connecting pathways. To
best leverage these assets, schools should commit to exploring what we
call ‘slots’ that could be added to the basic design of school. These
slots represent pathways through which students can learn, but also
pathways through which outsider adults–experts, tutors, mentors,
community members–can participate. These can consist of everything from
guest speaker models–both in person and over video–to internship and job
shadow programs.

Thirdly, leverage technology to expand access & curb costs. Expanding
access to new learning pathways and relationships is all well and good,
but could be cost prohibitive. And even in geographies rich with social
assets, there will be network gaps that prove challenging to fill.
Schools should be creative regarding the circumstances in which
technology has a competitive advantage to expand access to new
connections. One of our ah-ha’s in the research is that technology may
not be the best for mediating close, caring relationships
but it holds truly disruptive potential when it comes to seeding what
sociologists call ‘weak ties’–or brief connections–with new people,
especially those whom students might otherwise not meet.

Finally, monitor trust, not just quantity of connections. Schools
should monitor the quality of student networks, both in terms of
ensuring access and also ensuring that relationships are positive and
productive. One of those risks is that new tools start to scale connections without scaling trust and empathy.
To monitor the quality of student-adult relationships there are some
leaders in the space that schools should be aware of. The Search
Institute and America’s Promise Alliance are both producing great
research on caring and developmental relationships. Harvard’s Making
Caring Common project and Empatico also offer great resources.

Your message to the current and next generation of learners. What do you suggest youth do to help?

Keep
emphasizing how much relationships matter to them! Students’ voices
will force adults to see how young people experience relationships
through their own eyes. With the rising tide of personalized learning,
it’s become quite fashionable to have student panels at education
conferences. Each and every time, I hear young people talking not about
new-fangled tests or elaborate learning pathways, but about the
relationships they are experiencing. Young people sharing their own
stories can force the adults in the system to remember to keep
relationships at the center of this work.

C. M. Rubin is the author of two widely read online series for
which she received a 2011 Upton Sinclair award, “The Global Search for
Education” and “How Will We Read?” She is also the author of three
bestselling books, includingThe Real Alice in Wonderland, is the publisher of CMRubinWorldand is a Disruptor Foundation Fellow.